By Bisi Olaniyi, Southsouth Bureau Chief
The Deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, has stated that the Godwin Obaseki’s administration is taking steps to move Edo from a civil service state to an economic hub.
Shaibu, on Friday in Benin, through his Special Assistant on Media, Benjamin Atu, noted that Obaseki adopted a hybrid strategy to tackle the hitherto ingrained inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the commerce and industry sector, for maximum results.
He said: “The truth is that a lot is happening in Edo State that the world is not aware of. What Governor Obaseki is doing is mind blowing.
“Edo government, in the last three and a half years, by virtue of dedicated focus, came to the realisation that commerce and industry offer very important measurement and gauge for assessment of the economic growth, strength and health of any society.
“Obaseki’s administration, worried about the crushing poverty in Edo State, conceived and embarked on micro-credit programme, as part of efforts in bringing the issue of poverty reduction to the forefront of the government.
“Objective of Obaseki’s government is to achieve the happiness, economic enhancement and independence of the poorest, the weakest, the most vulnerable and the disadvantaged.”
Edo deputy governor also stated that micro-credit could be used to benefit poor entrepreneurs as a major fillip in removing people from the poverty line, which he said the government had proven by various forms of micro-credit programmes to bring about sustained development.
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He said: “We want the poor in our midst to have access to means of production, turn them into entrepreneurs in their own right, employers of labour and masters of their own economic destiny, with the ability to turn the economic fortune of the state around for the better.
“It is in furtherance of this goal that Governor Obaseki is seeking a second term in office, in order to consolidate on his micro-credit efforts. The return of Governor Obaseki will be for the greater good of Edo People.
“Businesses that started as a very small basic micro businesses have started turning into cottage industries and small businesses. Since Edo government has the kind of ingenuity and resilience towards ensuring the eradication of poverty, why then are we struggling for a change of government?
“If we can continue with these laudable programmes for the next four years, we will promote employment for both the skilled and unskilled people, thereby reducing crime in Edo and the state’s economy will grow.”
Shaibu also stated that micro-credit was grounded in the believe that the poor had skills that remained largely unused or underutilised and that charity was not the answer, since it would create dependency, thereby perpetuating the poverty trap.
He said: “Obaseki’s administration has penetrated into the grassroots, through meeting financial obligations of businesses. This the government has done, because regular financial institutions, owing to their nature, cannot put down funds for low-income businesses.
“In the absence of alternative funds for this group of people, the Obaseki’s government took it as a social responsibility and obligation to provide them with necessary credit, as we cannot continue to neglect them, considering the fact that they are in the majority.
“One of the major achievements of this poverty alleviation programme is that it is carefully packaged to meet the desires of the people at the grassroots, people who have never experienced direct benefit from government in any form.
“Is it such a passionate government like this that we are in a hurry to remove? We may fault actions of the government for not enriching individual elite, who are bent on auctioning the state, but the government has impacted upon the lives of those who need government the most, through policies and programmes.”
Edo deputy governor also admonished people of the state to continue to support the focused Obaseki’s administration.
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